February 2, 2012 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will co-sponsor the 15th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference, to be held February 15–16 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Place NW, Washington, D.C.

The conference will feature high-level speakers and panels examining the growth of the U.S. commercial space sector, and the future of commercial space exploration. The conference theme is “Commercial: The New Future of Space.”

The event’s panel sessions will cover a wide range of subjects, including: Minority Space Entrepreneurship; Understanding the Space Environment: What the Launch Operator Should Know About Space Weather; Crew and Cargo to the International Space Station; Ranges of the Future; Spaceport States Leadership, and Legislative Trends in Commercial Space. Panelists are drawn from a wide range of government agencies, academic institutions, commercial space companies, and nonprofit associations in the space field.

George Nield, general chair of the conference, stated: “What a year this has been! The end of one era and the dawn of a new one. It is becoming increasingly clear that commercial space activities will be a key part of the nation’s future space endeavors. The 15th annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference will give policy makers, developers, industry representatives, and subject matter experts the information they need in order to understand what challenges we face, and what obstacles still need to be overcome. We look forward to your attendance and your active participation in the discussion!”

For more information on the 15th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference, visit www.aiaa.org/AST2012 or contact Duane Hyland at duaneh@aiaa.org or 703.264.7558. Media registration for credentialed members of the press is complimentary.

AIAA is the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. With more than 35,000 individual members worldwide, and 90 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org.